Oppenheimer

It's taken me a few days to sit down and collect my thoughts on this. Part 1 of my Barbenheimer double feature, I saw this on the IMAX closest to me. While it wasn't a true IMAX, it was still worth seeing on the biggest screen possible. I made sure to sit directly in the middle of the row, at the height I think is best where I felt dead center of the screen. Genuinely, this may be Nolan's best film. From the way that it ebbs and flows between time periods, giving us the perfect amount of detail to follow the throughline. It's like listening to an orchestra play. Each section of instruments doing their thing, and all coming together for a beautiful symphony. That's the best way to describe this movie, a symphony. From start to finish I was gripped. To list all the actors in this, and how well they did would take up the whole review, but a few stand out. Cillian Murphy carries the movie on his shoulders, but not without help. He really finds a perfect way to evolve his portrayal of Oppenheimer through each section of the film. Whether it be the unsure schoolboy we meet early on, to the confident professor, to the anxious yet stoic leader of the Manhattan Project, to a broken and hollow man wrestling with the consequences of his actions. It's so refreshing, and wonderfuly executed. Then, of course, Robert Downey Jr. proving to the world why he's one of the best actors out there. Shedding the Tony Stark style that seems to frame a lot of his roles since 2008, RDJ nails this role as Lewis Strauss. The venom on his tongue with every word is palpable, and he makes the absolute most out of his screen time. The movie starts with the quote "Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity". Obviously, Oppenheimer is based on the book American Prometheus (2005), framing Oppenheimer as a man who will endure endless torment for the destruction he unleashed on to the world. But, this story is also that of another Greek tragedy. Strauss believes himself to be a great puzzle master, the man behind the labyrinth, but he's not. He's a boy, with wax wings, who flies too close to the sun. He's a brazen and bold Icarus, who's downfall comes at his own hands. Emily Blunt doesn't have an overwhelming amount of screen time, but her commanding presence is so crucial to this. The scene towards the end of her and Benny Safdie sent shivers down my spine. To reiterate, the supporting cast also works their asses off, and delivers some fantastic performances. Alden Ehrenreich proving that no actor is their worst movie, shrugging off the shadow of Solo to go toe to toe with RDJ throughout the 3 hour runtime. Florence Pugh and Josh Hartnett similarly use their screentime to maximum effect. Also, shout out to Christopher Nolan's children for helping to cast this movie, as I have no other explanation for how we got Alex from The Naked Brothers Band, Will Stronghold from Sky High, Josh from Drake & Josh, Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Bernard from The Santa Clause to all have prominent roles in this movie. Visually, the movie takes a more subtle approach, until it doesn't. The fact that the explosion we get isn't CGI is insane. It's beautiful. The trinity test scene pulled all the air out of my lungs. I don't think I'm being cavalier when I say that this is one of the best films ever made, a real triumph. Knowing that I was going to be seeing Barbie the same day, I put this first in the hopes that Barbie would cheer me up. I made he right decision there, because the ending of this movie haunted me, and the message it sends still does.